


Ophion

by maliwanhellfire



Series: The World Serpent [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M, Mental Illness, Recovery, Time Loop, Violent Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28384473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maliwanhellfire/pseuds/maliwanhellfire
Summary: The snake releases its tail.A coda.
Relationships: Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus
Series: The World Serpent [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078862
Comments: 11
Kudos: 137





	Ophion

Corypheus died ugly, in a burst of green light followed by a shockwave that stank of sulphur. Afterwards, there was a moment of utter quiet. The breeze blew, cool against Dorian’s ichor-stained skin. The sky was blue and grey, a pure shade that Dorian had not seen in years, if not decades. If not centuries…

 _Is this it?_ He thought. _Finally?_

Then the ground beneath his feet began to shake, as the magic that had suspended it failed. Dorian stumbled. A piece of mortar dropped before him and broke into a thousand pieces. A stone shard flew out and bit into his cheek. When Dorian touched his hand to the wound, it came back freshly blooded.

Another hunk of debris fell this time to his left, and closer.

Dorian should have woken up before now. Back to the beginning, alone and mad with it. His staff dropped from his limp fingers. He wasn’t going to need it anymore.

He felt a warm, broad hand seize around his wrist.

“I will throw you over my shoulder if I have to,” the Bull said. “So, move your ass.”

Dorian blinked, once.

“You’re so rude,” he said.

And then they ran.

* * *

Dorian waited, until after the Healers had seen to him, after the speeches, the feast, the secondary speeches and three rounds of very enthusiastic sex in the Undercroft, and then he excused himself and had a teeny tiny catastrophic breakdown.

* * *

There was a waterfall between Dorian’s ears, an endless torrent of sound that drowned his thoughts and sent them tumbling in and out of mind. He could remember now, or he thought he could, all the many things he’d thought to suppress. The feel of a sword through his gut, dragonfire charring through his skin. Once, horribly, the Inquisitor himself cleaving off Dorian’s head, as his body twisted into an abomination.

He had died so many times, whimpering, terrified, defiant. Again and again and again and again—

“I’m here, Kadan.”

That voice. The first man to matter, and the last. Dorian had drunk himself into a stupor, back then, broken-hearted. Dorian had grieved the Bull when he died, and when Dorian had followed him ( _the sky had torn open, emerald green_ ), he’d welcomed it. He’d bled out, praying that they might be together in the beyond. Then he opened his eyes to a morning sky in Ferelden.

“What if it happens again?” Dorian asked, his throat sore.

Bull sat down next to Dorian on the un-finished stone floor. He pulled Dorian into his lap and tucked him under his chin. Dorian leant into Bull’s solid chest and closed his eyes. Listened to the cadence of his breaths.

“I know I’ve heard you and Ma’am talking about time magic more than once,” Bull said. “The Breach is gone; you won’t go back anymore. You can’t.”

“It could be something else,” Dorian said. “Divine punishment, some other magic that I don’t understand.”

“Magic you don’t understand? That doesn’t sound likely.”

Dorian pulled away and gave Bull an unimpressed look. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

“Yeah, it will,” Bull replied, with a lopsided grin.

“I don’t know what to do, Bull,” Dorian admitted.

Bull brushed his fingers through Dorian’s hair, then he cupped his hand over Dorian’s cheek.

“You can do anything,” Bull said.

“What will you do?” Dorian asked.

Dorian didn’t know what was going to happen anymore. This was a future he had never lived. Not in any capacity.

“I’ll go where you go,” Bull said. “Or you can go where I go. Whatever suits you better.”

Dorian's eyes felt hot and sore. The relief of victory had too swiftly been followed by a myriad of fears, and that by far was the worst of them. He was not sure that he could live with being alone again.

“Are you sure?” Dorian asked. “I’m a bit of a mess.”

“I liked you when I thought you were batshit crazy.”

“I am still, as you say, ‘batshit crazy’.”

“Maybe I like that too,” Bull replied.

Dorian tucked his head once more against Bull’s throat. He breathed in the scent of sweet oil and sandalwood, the ersatz horn balm that Bull relied on now. Dorian had made it for him.

“Although I’ll still like you when you’re not crazy anymore,” Bull added. “There are a lot of things to like about you, after all.”

“I am very good at sex,” Dorian replied silkily.

Bull pressed a kiss to Dorian’s brow and soothed a hand down his back. “And you’re sweet and kind, and clever…”

“You’ll give me a big head.”

“Let’s rest for a while, Kadan,” Bull said. “Give it a few days, get used to the way things are now. We’ll get there.”

Dorian breathed in deep and let the air out slow.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll try.”

**Author's Note:**

> I never wanted to write an ending to this story, but I woke up the other day and thought that I could write this. I hope you like it.


End file.
